Generating quotations from reference documents is important in graphic user interfaces (GUIs), both when writing reports, documents, encyclopedia articles, and the like using WordPerfect®, Microsoft Word®, and the like, and also for cropping and annotating quotations from textual reference documents such as Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF)®, Microsoft Word®, and the like.
Multiple end-use applications require generating quotations from reference documents, including reference manuals, encyclopedias, educational texts, inspection reports, and the like. For example, U.S. Ser. No. 12/489,313, filed on Jun. 22, 2009, entitled “A system and method for carrying out an inspection or maintenance operation with compliance tracking using a handheld device,” describes a method for carrying out an inspection on a piece of industrial equipment and generating inspection reports in the field. An inspector out in the field carrying out an inspection operation needs a convenient, quick, and accurate method to crop and annotate quotations from a reference document, such as an industrial equipment owner's manual, during an inspection in the field.
One prior method of generating quotations from a reference document is shown in FIG. 1. Window 1 (102) shows a reference document, which could be, for example, an Adobe PDF® file, stored in memory. A mouse 106 is used to select a portion of the reference document (shown as dashed rectangle), then performing a drag operation 106 (shown as dashed line 106) while holding down the mouse button to another Window 2 (104), which could be, for example, a Microsoft Word® document that the user is editing, and then releasing the mouse button to insert the quotation from the reference document. In the prior art method, after the quotation area has been selected, the user drags the selected quotation into another document, and then must manually add a reference to the reference document, as well as the section of the reference document from which the quotation was selected. This operation is cumbersome and requires multiple mouse operations, and furthermore is generally only useable in the desktop environment with the availability of peripheral devices such as a keyboard and mouse. It is generally not suitable for use in a handheld or other field device, or locations or situations where greater flexibility and fewer interactions with the GUI are highly desirable.
One concrete application of the present invention is related to supplying a convenient user interface for a handheld device used for industrial inspection and maintenance compliance systems, as described in related U.S. Ser. No. 12/489,313. The present invention allows an easy mechanism for on-site inspectors to quickly quote reference documents such as crane safety manuals to substantiate problems found during the course of an inspection.
One of ordinary skill in the art will find many useful applications of the present invention in which a convenient and easy way is needed to generate quotations from a reference document on a touch-sensitive display or other hand-held device.
It is against this background that various embodiments of the present invention were developed.